Republicans push missile defense spending after failed tests

posted by Brendan Bordelon
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3 years ago

Top Republicans are urging Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to allocate additional funds and testing for a multi-billion dollar missile defense program following the high-profile failure of critical system technologies in a July 5 test.

Reps. Howard McKeon and Mike Rogers, respective chairmen of the House Armed Services Committee and the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, were joined by their Senate counterparts James Inhofe and Jeff Sessions in a Friday letter condemning the Obama administration’s inadequate financing of the project.

“It is already clear that President Obama’s decision to drastically cut funding for the ground-based midcourse defense [GMD] program since he came to office and to ‘curtail additional GMD development,’ has drained funding available to conduct needed tests of this system,” the lawmakers wrote.

On July 5, an interceptor missile launched from California missed its target as it flew over the Pacific Ocean, forcing the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency to detonate both projectiles remotely.

The precise reason for the failure remains unknown, although some experts have speculated that a power loss prevented the separation of a kinetic “kill vehicle” from its thrusters as the two missiles hurtled toward each other at a combined speed of nearly 15,000 miles per hour.

The test cost $214 million and is the third intercept test failure in a row. The last time the system was successfully tested was in December 2008.